


her sweet tooth's never satisfied

by fictionalportal



Series: 30 Days of Pride [30]
Category: Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Angst, Post-Canon, Slow Burn, we're starting this a few months after Rita
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-04
Updated: 2017-07-09
Packaged: 2018-11-23 09:30:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11399802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fictionalportal/pseuds/fictionalportal
Summary: Based on this gifset made by zephyroh that gave me a lot of feelings: http://zephyroh.tumblr.com/post/162451846675/trimberly-au-where-trini-goes-to-kims-room-whoKimberly and Trini have been dancing around their feelings for each other for months, and it's starting to become impossible to ignore.Featuring Krispy Kreme.





	1. Chapter 1

Friday was typically Kimberly’s favorite day of the week. She might have to wake up early for detention the next morning, but Ranger bonfires wrapped up in time for everyone to get a solid night’s sleep in preparation for Saturday’s four-hour training sessions. At 10:07, Kimberly crawled through her window. She sat on the side of her bed and reached for her phone charger.

At 10:08, Trini heaved herself up over the windowsill and stomped across Kimberly’s desk.

Kimberly tamped down her excitement and willed herself not to blush when she noticed how the moonlight caressed Trini’s face. Staying cool around Trini was becoming an insurmountable challenge, and to her fantasies’ chagrin, they spent more and more time together. Alone It wasn’t uncommon for them to spontaneously hang out for a while after bonfires, but they usually planned sleepovers in advance. Kimberly couldn’t stop a pleasantly surprised smile from spreading across her face when Trini jumped down onto the bedroom floor.

“Are you lost?” She teased, grinning at her guest.

Trini didn’t say anything.

No witty comeback, no snarky rejoinder. The first clue that something was wrong. Trini dropped herself into Kimberly’s desk chair and stared at the window, and Kimberly felt her own smile falter. Quiet was never good with Trini. She was certainly the least gregarious of the group, but rarely was she so utterly silent. Kimberly had learned to detect the subtle shift from reserved to taciturn in the months that she’d known Trini, and she knew that Trini would only communicate if and when she wanted to.

The least Kimberly could do for now was offer a caring glance and an attentive ear, but she knew better than to take it personally if no words came. Trini might simply want company or some mind-numbing television or bad jokes--whatever she needed, Kimberly was willing to help.

Eventually Trini shook her head, not so much in reaction to Kimberly’s jest but more as a general gesture of dismissal towards whatever was taking up so much space in her head. In Kimberly’s mind, it conjured up the image of Trini trying to crush a balloon filled with sand between her hands. The shape might change: sadness looked like anger, insecurity became anxiousness, rage simmered in silence. But no matter how hard Trini tried to compress her feelings, she couldn’t pop them out of existence through sheer force of will.

Kimberly knew that there was one thing that made Trini feel better with a 95% success rate. “How about a box of doughnuts?” She offered.

She took Trini’s emphatic nose-wipe as a yes.

The jog to Krispy Kreme was second nature at this point. As she ran through the cool, breezy night, Kimberly wondered what might have happened to upset Trini. Until a few minutes ago, she’d had no idea that something was wrong. The bonfire was fun, and they’d all seemed to be enjoying themselves. Training, for all she knew, had been normal (as normal as superhero training with your four best friends could possible be, that is). School was school. They’d had a biology test, but Trini was a strong student who was always well prepared. Kimberly admired how little she stressed about exams despite pulling off stellar grades. Trini wasn’t wearing her typical home-is-bad grimace either, so Kimberly all but ruled out a fight with her parents.

The doughnut shop was void of customers as it often was between the desperate dessert rush and the swarm of stoners looking to satisfy their midnight munchies. A single employee manned the store. The Rangers knew everyone on the cashier crew by name, and Kimberly recognized Quinn by their brightly dyed hair and genuinely welcoming smile. Even after six years of working for Krispy Kreme (and one alien invasion), they had avoided becoming as jaded as many of the other night managers.

Kimberly bounced over to the counter and noticed that Quinn’s hair was a different color than before. The once-orange sidebangs now included pink highlights.

“Yo!” Quinn greeted her.

“Love the hair,” Kimberly said. “Can I get a dozen to go? Half devil’s food, half surprise me.”

“I take it you’re hanging with Trini,” they laughed. All the employees knew that devil’s food was Trini’s go-to. As they selected the best-looking doughnuts, they explained their recent change in aesthetic. “After all those superheroes basically saved the town, I got inspired. I knew I wanted to change my look, and pink was the obvious choice.”

“Why’s that?” Kimberly shook her head when Quinn picked up a strawberry frosted with rainbow jimmies. “Oh, not that one. Trini doesn’t like sprinkles.”

“Sure, we’ll go plain. I mean, that pterodactyl ship totally saved me. I was parking a few blocks down from the shop when this really angry rock thing jumped out of the ground and started pounding on the hood of my car. It stopped when it got a face full of airborne dino lasers.” Quinn shut the box and secured it with a single strip of tape.

Kimberly tried to nod and stay cool. She’d read articles praising the mysterious saviors of Angel Grove, but this was different. She’d saved someone’s life. Someone she knew. And it was overwhelming.

“Yup,” Quinn went on. They handed the box to Kimberly. “She’s pretty much my hero. A brave knight in bright pink.”

Kimberly glanced down at her hot pink tank top and froze. The glint in Quinn’s eye implied that they knew exactly who was piloting that pterodactyl, but their subtle nod told Kimberly that they wouldn’t say it out loud. With a grateful little smile, Kimberly tacitly thanked them for their discretion and slid a ten dollar bill across the counter from her jacket pocket.

“It’s on me,” Quinn said with a smile. “Tell Trini hi,” they added.

The mention of Trini’s name made Kimberly’s heart clench, all talk of her own courage forgotten. She suddenly worried that the doughnuts might not help at all, that she’d made a terrible mistake in leaving Trini alone. “Yeah,” Kimberly said, calling upon all of her cheerleader training to feign pep. “I totally will!”

Quinn raised an eyebrow. She may have overcompensated a little. “I don’t mean to butt in,” Quinn started, “but it’s super cute that you make doughnut runs for your girl.”

Kimberly tried to hide her astonishment. The thought of Trini being _her girl_ made her halt and rewind. Yes--she’d heard Quinn correctly. “We’re really good friends,” she tried, nodding vigorously to reinforce her own point as her heart raced. Friends. Nothing else. Quinn didn’t need to know that she’d spent a good five minutes of her exam time in biology wondering what DNA-related pickup line Trini would find the most endearing.

“So you and Trini aren’t together?” Quinn said, confusion evident on their face. “Like, romantically?”

“Very much no.” Kimberly prayed that her voice conveyed none of the disappointment that she felt.

Quinn put their hands up. “Damn, my bad. Didn’t mean to assume.”

“It’s fine. See you,” Kimberly said quickly, flashing them what she hoped would come off as an effortless grin.

Outside, the temperature had dropped by a few degrees. Kimberly zipped up her jacket before holding the Krispy Kreme box tightly and beginning the run back to her house. Upon her return, she decided to sneak back in through an unconventional route--the front door. It would be safer for the doughnuts than jumping through the window, and this particular box was far too important to compromise in any way.

With a series of quiet squeaks, the front door creeped open. Kimberly closed it gently behind her and scrambled across the foyer towards the stairs before making a u-turn to ditch her shoes by the door.

One of the stairs creaked when Kimberly’s foot landed on it, but her sleeping parents likely wouldn’t be alarmed by the sound of someone moving about the house. They were used to Kimberly staying up later than them, and since she’d turned eighteen they abandoned any hope of enforcing a curfew.

Trini had migrated from the desk chair to the bed and pulled the covers up. The tableau of her wrapped in a blanket cocoon instantly cemented itself as one of Kimberly’s favorite memories.

Kimberly placed the box of doughnuts on the bed and closed her door. She sat down next to Trini and whispered next to her ear. “Nap time’s over.”

“Mmm not asleep,” Trini grumbled in a definitively sleepy voice.

“Come on. I got devil’s food,” she sang.

Trini didn’t move for a long moment. Kimberly could sense her weighing her options: fall asleep and miss out on doughnuts or sit up, eat a delicious sugary snack, and get roped into initiating a late-night heart-to-Hart.

“We don’t have to talk,” Kimberly offered. She kept talking, determined to break the tension and talk Trini out of sleeping. “It’s rude to talk with your mouth full, anyway, right? God, Jason always does that. Have you noticed? Now Zack has surprisingly good manners--”

Trini interrupted with an exaggerated groan and sat up. She glowered at Kimberly, but her glare faltered as she reached for one of the devil’s food doughnuts.

“Sometimes I get real lonely. Happens a lot after bonfires,” Trini said, her words clipped. She shrugged nonchalantly. “I don’t know why.”

Kimberly kept her word and didn’t press conversation. Oftentimes that was it--a few short sentences that Trini had to pry out of her own throat. Kimberly tried not to fixate on how difficult it always seemed for her. They quickly emptied the box of its sweet contents, and by eleven o’clock they were both riding sugar highs that only a Power Ranger could survive.

“Let’s play a game,” Kimberly suggested, her foot hanging off the bed and bouncing in the air.

Trini’s normally deadpan facade disintegrated under the influence of sugar. With a spirited smirk, she accepted the challenge. “You’re on.”

“Truth or Dare.”

Immediately, Trini recoiled and nibbled at her last piece of doughnut. “Nope.”

She tried again. “Never Have I Ever?”

Again, Trini considered her options and decided that the latter presented an acceptably low risk of continued painful conversation. She held up five fingers and asked the first question. “Never have I ever punched a dude in the face.”

Kimberly huffed and put down one finger. She looked at Trini expectantly. “You have to put one down, too.”

“No I don’t.”

“You’ve definitely punched Zack in the face!” Kimberly protested.

“I put him in a chokehold. That’s different.”

“Fine,” Kimberly said, rolling her eyes. Her competitive side was prone to appear even during cheesy sleepover games. “Never have I ever...done yoga on a cliff.”

Trini put a finger down.

The game went on like that for a few rounds, each of them asking pointed questions about hard rock music and cliff jumping that they knew would force the other towards defeat.

Kimberly was down to one finger while Trini still had two up. By the smug look on Trini’s face, Kimberly knew she was about to lose. She decided to go out with a bang, and her impulses took over.

“Never have I ever thought about kissing another Ranger.”

Before Trini could react, Kimberly put down her last finger and clenched her fist tightly.

***


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The return of Trini's powerful tendency towards fleeing cuts her night with Kimberly short. Detention is a little more exciting than usual, and it's not because Kimberly is enjoying her book.
> 
> Also, grocery shopping.

Kimberly felt a sudden need to shed her jacket, but she stayed still, waiting for Trini’s response.

Instead of answering, Trini scoffed. “What, you got a thing for Zordon?”

Then Kimberly was staring, her focus unabashedly flitting between eyes and lips. She could feel blood rising in her cheeks, but she didn’t want to look away.

Trini, however, broke the intense eye contact to glance at the clock by Kimberly’s bed. 11:23. They had to be awake for detention in eight hours, but they’d just eaten half a dozen doughnuts each and Kimberly was certain that she wasn’t going to be able to fall asleep anytime soon.

“Shit, it’s late. Guess that’s game,” Trini said. “Way to shoot yourself in the foot.”

“I got tired.” There was a hardness behind Kimberly’s false confession, but if Trini noticed she didn’t show it.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Trini said, getting up off the bed.

“Oh,” Kimberly said. “Okay.”

Trini soundlessly disappeared through the window with a little wave, leaving Kimberly with nothing but an empty box of doughnuts and her thoughts. Out of all of Trini’s idiosyncrasies, her habit of vanishing suddenly irked Kimberly the most.

With a defeated exhale, Kimberly stood and stripped off her clothes. Between the sugar rush and the self-inflicted embarrassment, she was far too warm to wear anything more than some shorts and a thin tee shirt. After throwing her comforter onto the ground, she climbed back onto her bed. She stayed awake for another hour.

The next morning, Kimberly awakened just before her alarm went off at 7:30. She stood in front of the mirror playing with her hair a little too long and had to rush out of the house without toasting her bagel. Her parents were probably out on one of their early jogs. Disturbingly, they referred to getting up at seven on a Saturday as “sleeping in.”

Detention was uneventful. The bullies had been especially quiet since Zack and Trini joined Kimberly, Jason, and Billy on the official Threatening Glares on Behalf of Underdogs Squad. Billy discreetly slipped a colored pencil to each Ranger so that they could color code their writing, and they spent the hour and a half flinging notes around at lightning speed.

Kimberly made a half-hearted attempt to read Arcadia for English class. The play was clever, but schoolwork was dramatically less interesting when Trini was sitting across the room with her feet up on the desk, braiding her hair, looking like some sort of silent siren. A small paper bullet hit Kimberly in the cheek. She dropped her open book on her desk and read over the analog equivalent of a group text.

In black handwriting, Zack suggested they cut training short and hang out. Jason was up for it--he felt that everyone had been working hard, and they’d exhausted Zordon’s list of less-than-urgent Ranger tasks all the way down to polishing and waxing the ship. Billy put in a formal request for “a butt-ton” of pizza at the soiree. Yellow handwriting voiced a vote for pepperoni. Kimberly scribbled down “whose place?” and returned the note to Zack.

When they were finally released from detention, the Rangers rendezvoused in the parking lot by Kimberly and Jason’s side-by-side cars.

“Jason’s parents are out of town,” Zack started. “You know what that means.”

“Staying up as late as we want?” Billy suggested.

“Drinking?” Trini said cautiously.

“Please don’t say drugs,” Kimberly added.

“No!” Zack exclaimed. “We don’t have to eat at the table!” His giant smile precluded Jason from reminding Zack that his family had no rule against dining while sitting on the couch. As Jason’s dad said, “It’s the living room. Eating’s a part of living.”

“You guys can come over now if you want,” Jason said.

Kimberly thought back to her pathetic attempts at reading during detention. She’d gotten through two pages at most. “I’m definitely not getting any homework done,” she said.

“Sounds good. What’s for lunch?” Billy asked.

Jason’s face was serious, like he was discussing the history of Ranger leadership with Zordon or considering the best way to fight back against a new alien threat. “...Pizza?” He tried.

“We can’t have pizza for lunch and dinner, Jason,” Billy said stoically.

Trini jumped in. “You guys know there’s such thing as a stove, right? Like, you can cook on it.”

All of the Rangers stared at her in bewilderment.

Trini sighed. “I’ll make dinner.”

The staring continued. Only Kimberly blinked.

“Brothers, remember? I’m used to cooking for a bunch of little kids.”

“Ouch,” Zack feigned.

“We should probably make a grocery run, then,” Jason said, doubling back. “We don’t have a ton of non-frozen food options besides cereal.”

Each of the Rangers donated to Trini’s grocery fund. She received three ten dollar bills and two balled-up fives. “Zack, do you even own a wallet?”

“Your cooking better be good,” Zack said. “I’m not paying you to mock me.”

“Aw, Zack. You know she’s happy to do that for free,” Kimberly said, flashing Zack an overly sweet smile.

Trini bumped Kimberly’s shoulder to show her approval for the jest.

Billy went with Jason to help get things ready at the Scott household. Zack, Trini, and Kimberly headed for the store for what was sure to be the least efficient shopping trip ever. Kimberly had insisted that they go to Whole Foods instead of Jewel, and she drove them there in spite of Zack’s protests that it was “bougie” and “suspiciously lacking in gluten.”

As they pulled into the parking lot, Trini delegated errands. “Okay,” she started, “Zack, you know what an eggplant is, right?”

“Only my favorite emoji,” he replied.

“You’re super gross, you know?” Trini opened the passenger’s side door and hopped out of Kim’s jeep. The others followed.

Kimberly caught up to Trini with a few quick steps. “What’s my job?”

“Basket carrier and guide,” Trini said. “I’ve never been here before.”

As silly as it was, Kimberly was excited that she was the one accompanying Trini. Her chest swelled with pride--basket carrier was not a task to be taken lightly. “Okay,” Kimberly said, manufacturing nonchalance.

She led them through the store on the route that her parents used to take on their Saturday morning family shopping trips. It had been years since all three of them had gone together, but Kimberly’s soft spot for Whole Foods had stuck with her.

When they passed by the dry pasta aisle, Trini paused.

“What?” Kimberly asked.

Trini replied with her own question. “How much do you wanna bet they don’t have any oil?”

Kimberly shook her head. “Two aisles back, right side.”

“Cool. Can you grab a box?” Trini pointed at the pasta aisle to Kimberly’s left and then backtracked to retrieve some cooking oil.

As Kimberly contemplated which pasta shape would go best with ground beef, Zack appeared in the aisle next to her and dropped two eggplants into the basket. “Having fun playing house?” He said with a sharp smile.

“What?!” Kimberly squeaked. “I’m not playing house with Trini.” She could feel blood rush to her cheeks and prayed that Zack wouldn’t notice.

No such luck.

He started laughing in disbelief. “Man, I was talking about the very adult gesture of buying food. But if you want to keep doing this domestic fantasy thing, I can go look for more eggplants.”

Kimberly clenched her jaw. Curse Zack for being a perceptive asshat. She picked up the vegetables that he’d selected and shoved them into his chest roughly. “Good, ‘cause these are bruised.”

“Yeah, same,” Zack muttered as he headed out of the aisle.

When Trini returned with her arms full of ingredients, they picked up Zack from the vegetable section and checked out. Fortunately for Zack, he didn’t say anything incriminating during the car ride to Jason’s house. Unfortunately, he took the conversation in a completely unanticipated direction.

“You guys know Dungeons & Dragons?” He asked, leaning up between the two front seats.

“Obviously,” Kimberly said.

“Why?” Trini asked cautiously.

“I think we should play it,” Zack said.

Kimberly whispered to herself, “Sounds ridiculous.”

“I’m in,” Trini said, much to Kimberly’s surprise. Usually Trini was the first to shoot down Zack’s outlandish ideas. In the rear view mirror, Kimberly could see that Zack was just as shocked.

“Wait, seriously?” Kimberly questioned.

Trini pushed back defensively. “What? It’s a fun game.”

The matter was settled between the three of them, and Zack was sure that Billy and Jason would be down.

As Kimberly quickly learned, Jason’s kitchen was a certifiable biohazard zone. The counter was covered with bits of ramen, there were at least six different microwavable meals in the freezer, and the stove couldn’t have been cleaned since the Scotts moved in.

“Yeah, we order in a lot,” Jason admitted.

Kimberly volunteered to help Trini clean the kitchen. She would have insisted that the boys help, but the kitchen was rather cramped (and she wasn’t entirely sure that Jason knew what a sponge was). In fifteen minutes, the stove was usable and the sink was clear of dishes.

“Ready to make some fancy pasta?” Kimberly asked as she started unpacking the brown paper bags.

Trini grabbed an eggplant out of Kimberly’s hands. “You can go hangout if you want.”

“I am hanging out. With you.” She reclaimed the eggplant and set it down on the now-sparkling counter.

The look on Trini’s face was unreadable. Maybe she wanted to be alone.

“Unless you don’t want company,” Kimberly added.

Trini’s eyes lingered for a moment before she returned her attention to the yet-to-be-unpacked groceries. When Kimberly didn’t move, Trini said, “You need directions on how to boil water or do you know how pots work?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let me know what you want to see in this! group hangout to follow, plus some more of trini and kimberly bein nerds around each other. 
> 
> of course, zack knows about kimberly's little crush now, and you can bet he won't let that go any time soon.

**Author's Note:**

> to end pride month, here's a multi-chapter, slow-burn, super-gay trimberly fic. 
> 
> who's gonna tell me pride month is over?? the government??? i don't think so buddy
> 
> leave me comments pls i love them and you <3


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